Widelands – open source settlers game lets you build your civilization one humble plank at a time [Freeware]

You can never have too many opportunities to create your very own world, because let’s face it, the one we’ve got right now has definitely got a few rough edges. And there’s no shortage of developers trying to help us live out our fantasy, which is good news for narcissists across the globe.

Widelands is a free open source real time strategy game which mimics the kind of all round entertainment that used to be found in Settlers II before it disappeared from store shelves. As with most of these games you start out with nothing except a lone HQ, and from there you must build and care for an ever expanding empire of little people.

Your job is to turn resources into wealth, where have we heard that before, and fight off any aggression from the two other tribes in your universe. There is trading and there are fights, and along the way you get to admire the scenery and delegate lots of hard work to lowly peasants. Such a refreshing change!

The game features multiplayer, single play campaigns and LAN based frolics, so there should be enough for everyone with a Caesar complex to get their teeth into.

Nigel is the managing editor of the Red Ferret, as well as a freelance columnist for the Sunday Times newspaper in London. Loves tech and fancies himself as a bit of a futurist, but then don’t we all?

No, no, I didn’t take it as arrogant at all. Fair question. I suppose my slapdashery is a rebellion against the ‘proper’ writing I have to do elsewhere. On the Ferret, I can put my feet up, have a cup of choco and let my hair down so to speak. It’s partly why I started the site in the first place. :)

Paul

October 24, 2013 3:24:00 pm

The site is fantastic, I stumbled across it from another sites link and was expecting tech stuff (which there is) but also find the websites, browser games and other tech quirky stuff you post to make a refreshing diversion from the typical smartphone/tablet postings. Keep up the excellent work!

But your use of the term “freeware”, here and throughout the site, is pretty disturbing.

From wikipedia: “Freeware should not be confused with free software or free and open source software.[13] The “free” in “freeware” refers to the price of the software, which is typically proprietary and distributed without source code. By contrast, the “free” in “free software” refers to freedoms granted users under the software license (for example, to modify and redistribute the program to others), and such software may be sold at a price.”

This is not just a matter of semantics. In real life, freeware is often infected with malware or performs undesirable actions like changing your browser home page or installing things the user did not ask for. Confusing freeware and open source software is, in fact, a tactic used by opponents of free software. It seems strange that you would praise an open source game and in the same post smear open source.

Hi there, I’m not sure what you’re talking about actually. This blog, and my association with free software predates Wikipedia by quite a few years, and also predates any of these quaint definitions. Please don’t come here and lecture me on open source, free software or freeware, it’s not your place or your right. I have worked on open source personally, and I have reviewed and tested free software for more decades than I care to remember. Thanks for listening.